Can You Hear Me Now

Some of them knew pleasure. Some of them knew pain. And for some of them, it was only the moment that mattered.

Jackson Browne

Minnesota is in the news again. Nearly six years ago it was for the murder of George Floyd. This past June, a crazed gunman shot and killed state representative Melissa Hortman, her husband, and their dog. Three months later, two beautiful children had their lives taken from them when a disturbed young man sprayed their school assembly with 116 bullets and three shotgun shells. Last week, ICE agents brazenly shot 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good as part of their assault on the Twin Cities. This is not how I want my adopted state to be seen by the world, but gone are the days when Minnesota meant little more than cold winters, Bob Dylan, and Prince. We have found ourselves at the center of a national upheaval and there is no running away from it.

On August 16th, 1967, the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. gave his Where Do We Go From Here speech. This passage jumps out at me.

One day, one night, a juror came to Jesus and he wanted to know what he could do to be saved. Jesus didn’t get bogged down on the kind of isolated approach of what you shouldn’t do. Jesus didn’t say, “Now Nicodemus, you must stop lying.” He didn’t say, “Nicodemus, now you must not commit adultery.” He didn’t say, “Now Nicodemus, you must stop cheating if you are doing that.” He didn’t say, “Nicodemus, you must stop drinking liquor if you are doing that excessively.” He said something altogether different, because Jesus realized something basic: that if a man will lie, he will steal. And if a man will steal, he will kill. So instead of just getting bogged down on one thing, Jesus looked at him and said, “Nicodemus, you must be born again.”

What I’m saying today is that we must go from this convention and say, “America, you must be born again!”

As I come to grips with the cold blooded killing of Ms. Good, I cannot stop asking myself what will it take for America to be born again. We have teetered so far into the realm of authoritarianism that it has become difficult to imagine what it will take to pull us back. In a year’s time, the far right have shattered the norms that not even George Bush (either one), Richard Nixon, nor Ronald Reagan dared play with. We have a president with zero respect for the truth, cares nothing about the suffering of the average American, demands a Nobel Peace Prize while threatening the entire world order, despises science, espouses a white supremacist, racist ideology, and seeks to do away with elections. He and his Republican party claim to be Christians while practicing a faith solely based on money and power.

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 1 Timothy 6:9

While we have never been the more perfect union Abraham Lincoln spoke of, we are a country founded on the tenants of democracy, freedom, and the rule of law. Yes, much of America was built on slave labor and the theft of indigenous lands, but our Declaration of Independence and Constitution are revolutionary documents that distinguish us from nearly every form of government that came before us. We believed we were different from the kingdoms of Europe and for more than two centuries, America had a moral core (as imperfect as it was) that called on us to be and do better. We still lied, stole, and killed, but through word and deed, we moved the needle ever so slightly forward. Think the civil rights movement. Think women’s suffrage. Think marriage equality. Think Social Security and Medicare.

An Audacious Faith in the Future

As before, this administration lies, steals, and kills, but they are also hellbent on destroying all the good that came before it. They serve the billionaire class and have warped the minds of their followers into believing that every destructive step they take will somehow better their lives. More guns, less gays. Them versus us.

It’s a big job to be born again from all this.

And yet, it’s not an impossible job. Since the dawn of recorded history, the world has seen dictators come and go. At one time Hitler looked unstoppable and we know how that turned out. Pol Pot was convicted of treason and the Khmer Rouge collapsed. Benito Mussolini, Muammar Gaddafi, and Nicolae Ceaușescu were executed by their own people. The rebirth of a nation is possible, but like actual birth, it’s a painful process.

And I must confess, my friends, that the road ahead will not always be smooth. There will still be rocky places of frustration and meandering points of bewilderment. There will be inevitable setbacks here and there. And there will be those moments when the buoyancy of hope will be transformed into the fatigue of despair. Our dreams will sometimes be shattered and our ethereal hopes blasted. We may again, with tear-drenched eyes, have to stand before the bier of some courageous civil rights worker whose life will be snuffed out by the dastardly acts of bloodthirsty mobs. But difficult and painful as it is, we must walk on in the days ahead with an audacious faith in the future. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The View From a Bridge

Every Wednesday, Linda and I gather with a few dozen like minded people on a pedestrian bridge over Interstate 35E. We carry signs, wave at the cars below us, and do what we can to be heard and seen. We get the occasional finger (nearly always from middle aged white men), but we get far more honks, flashing headlights, thumbs ups, waves, peace signs, and smiles.

My completely unscientific poll tells me that support for our messages (“Warm Hearts Melt Ice,” “No Blood for Oil,” “Bring Back Sanity,” “RIP Renee,” etc.) is overwhelming. Trump may have won the popular vote with a tiny percentage of people, but that was then and this is now. Those whose vote was based on little more than the price of a dozen eggs or manosphere podcasters are coming to their senses. This is not what they want from our government. This is not who they want us to be. The tide is turning and the wave is headed back to shore.

Still, Renee Nicole Good is dead. We cannot undo that tragedy. At the time of this writing, two more people were killed by ICE agents in Portland, Oregon. Sadly, I expect that even more will die before this nightmare is over.

But it will be over. I firmly believe that. The tyrants in power today will be overthrown tomorrow. That is the lesson of history.

I do not pretend to understand the moral universe. The arc is a long one. My eye reaches but little ways. I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by experience of sight. I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends toward justice. Reverend Theodore Parker

For more on the Saint Paul Bridge Visibility Brigade, click here. While you are there, subscribe to Pam’s Substack.

Make Good Trouble and Lead With Love

This is not my first rodeo nor do I expect it will be my last. Even if I have to do it from a wheelchair or a walker, I hope to be on the front line of righteous change. There will always be someone who wants to undo the progress towards The Beloved Community. Stony is the road we trod.

I cannot do this alone, though. No one can. Gather with your friends and find your own bridge to spread your messages — or come find me on mine. Peacefully, but loudly and forcibly, march through the streets of your city or town. Write letters. Make phone calls. Sing songs. Put up lawn signs. Wear buttons. Choose your battles. Vote. Stop doing business with companies that yield to authoritarianism. Send money to the causes you believe in. Talk to your neighbors — especially those who do not think or act as you do. Lead with love and love will follow in your wake. That is another lesson from history.

And yes, it’s okay to be scared. I’m scared, too. These are frightening times. My state is under siege. My neighbors are being terrorized and killed. ICE is acting with impunity. American democracy is being chipped away each and every day.

We live in frightening times and that’s all the more reason why we need to stand together. This is how we put the fear back on them. We may have taken a punch to the gut, but we shall overcome. Our power is only limited by our hesitance to stand up.

Truth, crushed to earth, will rise again. William Cullen Bryant

It takes an entire community to midwife the rebirth of a nation. It takes strength, willingness, resolution, and a very strong stomach. Put yourself on the right side of history. Visualize where you want to go from here and make it so.

Thank you for reading.

Pushing
pressing
raising your voice above the din and the clutter
making room for those deserving to be heard

Gone are the reasons for silence
scattered like dry leaves on a windy day
gone is the lamb, here stands the lion
roaring
stretching
fighting to be seen